Generally, when a boater attempts to moor his boat, he uses a line with a loop at one end. As the boat approaches the dock to which he desires to moor the boat, the boater usually jumps to the dock and places the loop of the line around a mooring cleat. Since it is sometimes not possible to jump from the boat, such as when there is no crew to assist with the mooring, or the size of the boat or the roughness of the water prevents safe jumping from the boat to the dock, or the person handling the line is physically unable to make the jump, it is necessary to throw the loop over the cleat. It takes a high level of skill and usually a great deal of luck to successfully throw the loop over the cleat. Often, multiple throws are required. This can be a time-consuming and frustrating endeavor. If the water is rough, the wind high, or the boat approaching the dock at too high of a speed, it is necessary to very quickly place the loop over the cleat so that the boat can be tied up before the boat collides with nearby boats or the dock.
While various devices have been designed in the past to assist the boater in placing the loop over a cleat or other object to which the boat is to be tied, all such devices have had serious drawbacks. There is a need for an easy-to-use apparatus to assist the boater in tying his boat to a cleat and other objects. Such a device should hold the loop in a very wide-open position to facilitate placement of the loop around the cleat, and then permit quick and easy closing of the loop around the cleat. The device should include a long handle which allows the boater to place the loop over the cleat while on the boat at a substantial distance from the dock. The handle should be disconnectable from the line so that the line can be used for permanent mooring of the boat without replacing it with another line, and without the handle interfering with the final mooring process. The device should securely hold the loop in the open position until the boater is ready to disconnect the handle from the line to prevent the line from accidentally separating from the handle. The device should also be uncomplicated in design, inexpensive to manufacture and convenient to use. The present invention fulfills these needs, and further provides other related advantages.